🔗 Share this article

Finally, the very celebration was ideal, under lights under that unusual deep-blue southern sky, within the tumult of the game-state – hyper Baz energy, the English lower order swinging freely with reckless abandon at the other end.

Right. All that drama. At the heart, Joe Root steered the ball away past fine leg to complete his long-awaited Test hundred in Australia.

Yet, the true meaning resonates with those who have followed the journey. Imagine trying to explain why this was not just heartwarming, uplifting and cathartic, but quietly epic.

A Moment Preserved in Time

A batsman who already had 39 centuries in this starchy formal dance of a sport has now registered his 40th. However, trace the narrative, the artistry, the setbacks.

There'll, of course, be much debate stuff to be settled. Has Joe Root finally achieved greatness? Is he considered great by Australian standards?

Yet there exists something further about wishing for Root to be great in Australia. This isn't concerning point-scoring. Any Australian who cares for cricket already knows Root is a exceptional cricketer.

Root's Hundred as a Solid Foundation

Root’s hundred felt significant in other ways, particularly as something concrete in the series for this team, a foothold in the glacier.

Are England going to win at the Gabba? It's unclear. But Joe Root got a hundred. Did Harry Brook play... the worst shot yet? Yes. He did.

This was not merely a hundred in Australia, but a superb one in authentically tough conditions, an innings that could have saved his team in this series.

It began with the early wickets tumbling, and England’s key batter coming out at 5/2. A chance was put down early in the slips.

The Juxtaposition in the Crease

In the afternoon session, England were in a reasonable position. Two versions of elite Yorkshire grit at the crease.

On one side, Root was exuding calm, easy, lithe, alert. Meanwhile, Brook was batting like a man who urgently requires the bathroom.

Throughout, a dusk was coming, the shadows creeping across the ground, and the swing maestro building up for the crucial spell of the day.

A Reckless Stroke

Do you run towards this danger? Apparently so. No settling in, no feet. Just throw the hands at it first up.

The ball to Brook was full-length, the edge clear. There is no scenario where this was a sensible choice.

It was, if nothing else, novel in its complete misjudgment. We've witnessed England bat in Australia like the Tin Man. Now Brook gave us the scarecrow, batting without a brain.

Root's Quiet Response

Therefore one half of this England team kept faltering, while at the other end Root batted not just for his life, but for the team's cause.

Root provided his own quiet rebuke, a success for preparation, working at your flaws.

England are still in this series because he did the thing, provided a lesson in what ability truly means.

Will they take twenty wickets? Are they going to learn? Not sure. But Joe Root did score a hundred.